Drink-driver who caused 50mph head-on crash in Northampton locked up for six months

Callum Jones

A 20-year-old drink-driver from Northampton has been locked up for six months after he caused a head-on crash at 50mph that injured two people.

Harry Ensor, of Sorrel Close, Wootton, had been drinking heavily on May 16 this year when he decided to drive to the supermarket to get more alcohol.

Northampton Crown Court heard that Ensor was driving a Ford Focus along Wootton High Street on the wrong side of the road and crashed into a black Mercedes at an estimated speed of between 50mph and 60mph.

The court heard that Ensor was seen to get out of his car and move away from the scene.

The driver of the car suffered a sprained wrist while the passenger suffered a neck injury. The £21,000 Mercedes car was a write-off.

Ensor was later arrested by police and gave a breathalyser reading of 70 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Ensor pleaded guilty to charges of dangerous driving, driving while over the alcohol limit and failing to stop at a crash scene.

Alison Hollis, mitigating, said Ensor was “very remorseful” for his conduct on the day.

She said: “He was going through a difficult period in his life as his grandfather, who he was very close to, had passed away and he believed he was going to be made redundant.

“He was drinking with friends and he made the foolish decision to drive to Tesco.”

Judge Rupert Mayo, sentencing, said it was an “appalling display of driving”.

Judge Mayo said he could find “no reason” to suspend the custodial sentence. He is likely to serve three months in a young offenders’ institution before being released on licence.